The crack of the pads, the roar of the crowds, and the fans chanting for their favorite players. These are the sounds of late summer, as NFL training camps open and football lurks around the corner.
Jerry Jones’ Micah Parsons comments show he still can’t help himself
The Cowboys’ Micah Parsons negotiations are taking a hit one Jerry Jones quip at a time
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
Increasingly, there is another sound that reminds us that the NFL is almost back.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones poking the bear.
As the contract standoff between Dallas and star pass rusher Micah Parsons enters another week, the Cowboys owner continues to take shots, small and large, at the standout defender. The Cowboys opened training camp with Jones holding his annual pre-camp press conference, during which he dropped into the conversation that Parsons missed time with an injury last year, while also throwing some jabs at, among others, Dak Prescott and Trevon Diggs.
That caught the attention of many in the media, including former defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who questioned why Jones would be alienating one of his best players. That message on social media was liked by none other than Parsons himself.
Then came Sunday at Dallas’ training camp. As first reported by Todd Archer of ESPN, a section of fans at Cowboys camp “yelled some fashion of ‘Pay Micah!’” during practice.
Jones may have heard the message, but had his own, unique interpretation.
“I heard it light, but not compared to how I heard them say, ‘Pay Lamb [last year],’” Jones said Sunday, drawing comparisons to last year’s contract standoff with CeeDee Lamb. “That was a faint little sound compared to the way they were hollering last year, ‘Pay Lamb.’ ... Whoever’s not in, you can count on a few hollering that. But it was a big loud chant last year on Lamb.”
Jones just cannot help himself, particularly this year with the Parsons negotiations. He seems to need, to crave, the last word, more than we usually see from the Dallas owner.
While the Cowboys were eventually able to get a deal done with Lamb, one cannot help but wonder how long the Parsons standoff will linger. That seems to include Jones himself, as well as Stephen Jones, the team’s Executive Vice President.
“Really I don’t have anything to comment there at all,” the elder Jones said Sunday. “Just no comment.”
“It doesn’t change anything,” Stephen Jones said. “We want to pay Micah, too.
“He’s got to want to be paid, too.”
Cowboys ownership poking the bear.
An annual sign that football is back.
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